Foot supporting and correcting device



March 2 1926. 1,575,490

F. W. KRECH FOOT SUPPORTING AND CORRECTING DEVICE Filed Feb. 4, 1924 Patented Mar. 2.1926.

' UNITED STATES P '1,575,490 PATENT o-FElcE. e

FEED-BRICK W. BEECH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; lSSIG'N'OIR, OF ONE-HALF T0 RENE C.

- HANSON; 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

room SUPPORTING AND coamic'rme nnv'xcn.

To all whom it may concern.'

B`e it known that I, FREDERICK W. Kanon, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Foot Supporting and Correcting Devices, of which the following is a specification. l

My invention relates to devices particularly ada ted to be worn in the shoes to support, re 'eve and correct the feet. The anterior metatarsal arch extends across the ball of the foot, and may becomedistorted through poorly fitting lshoes.l The` bones may be forced out. of proper position and may drop and the result is thick- 'pad in my ening and hardening of the skin and the ormation oi what is known as calli which may become very painful particularly when walking. The aiilicted person, inorder to relieve the pain, will tend to walk particularly on the outside of the foot and eventually other foot disturbances and distortions will result. One important object of my invention is therefore to provide an improved device by means of whichy a prop or ad is provided under the foot, directly bac of the ball or callous sensitive part of thefoot, such prop or pad serving to hold up the metatarsal bones and prevent them from exerting undue pressure against the skin when a person walks. The rop or improved device is yielding `and cushioning; and is also adjustable, so -that eventually the cause of callousing will be `removed and the foot bones brought back into proper relative position.

In uslng foot supporting devices of the class referred to care must always be taken to keepthe heel and ankle properly aligned. Aconsiderable part of a persons weight is alwaysl borne by a small area at the rear end of the oscalcis or heel bone, and to find relief some persons acquire the habit of turning the foot outwardly. If this is ractised too much it will eventually resultV 1n weakening and distortion of the foot. Another important object of my invention is therefore to prvide in my improved device a construction and arrangement for Y relieving this small area of the heel bone from the entire load, and to distribute the load over a much greater heel or bone area, and at the same time roviding support for the forward areas oft e heel bone to there- Application med/February 4, 1924. Serial No. 890,373.

by takey considerable strainoff suchfbone.

I accomplishhis by providing a depressed 4 or dishsection at the rear end vofiny 'rmproved su port which section fits the round ed or bal -shape of the heel and thus diss.

tributes lthe load over a greater area of the heel and prevents concentration of the load on the small area of the heel below the rear downwardly projected end of the heel bone. I also rovide lmeans for increasing the delth o and `otherwise adjusting such yheel sea My improved device and its method of apl I l plication and operation is clearly disclosed 011l the accompanying"drawing;A in which Fig. 1 is a plan view with parts broken away, n y t.

F1g. 2 is a front end v1ew, Fig. 3 is a plan view of an insert for ad'usting the neel seat, l y

ig. 4 is a sectional view on plane 4-4 -FigL 1, showing the shape of the device when manufactured, Y

Fig. 5 'is asimilar sectional view showing the arrangement of the device when it is worn in the shoe,

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a foot and bones therein showing my device applied: d l

Fig. 7 is` la sectional view on plane 7-7, Fig. 1, and p Fig. 8 is a similar sectional view showing the arrangement of the parts and m ner of relieving the heel.

As. shown in Fig. 1 my improved. de vice is shaped to fit the sole on the inside of the shoe in which it is to bel worn. It comprises the two similar flexible walls' 10 and 11 preferably of leather, these walls being 12 and 13` and the inner sewing lines 14 and 15, the outer lines .extending up to the heel section and being spaced inwardly a distance from the longitudinal edges of the walls in front of the heel section. The inner sewing lines 14:- and 15 also extend rearwardly to the heel section and are spaced apart to leave a friction channel 16 or the anchoring strip 17 of the pad 18, the sewing lines diverging toward the front of the y device to meet the outer sewing lines 12 and 13 and to provide a pocket 19 for the pad 18, the sewing lines at their front ends extenldng close up tothe ends of the leather wa E loo The pad 18 shown is pear-shaped in plan view, it being pivoted at its apex by a rivet 2O or other means to the front end of the anchoring strip 17 in order that the pad may be swung laterally into different positions in the retaining pocket 19. As best shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5 the pad is flat on onel side but convex on the opposite side and it is preferably constructed of some yieldable cushioning material such as felt or soft rubber. AThe pad can be swung laterally into various positions Within the pocket 19 and it can also be pulled outwardly a distance, all depending upon the section of the foot where its effect is desired. The frictional engagement of the anchoring strip 17 in the channel 16 and also the frictional engagment of the pa'd witli the rough inner sides of the leather walls will hold the pad in any adjusted position, the front edges of the leather walls being well skived and the pad tapering practically to anvedge so that when worn these edges will come together as shown in Fig. 5 to eliminate any frictional edges or obstruction to the foot and to gradually merge into the sole and present a smooth unbroken surface to the foot.

In accordance with my invention I provide'the hole 21 in the heel section of the device, this hole being preferably` elongated longitudinally of the device. The edges of the walls surrounding the opening are well skived' as shown in Fig. 4 so that when the device is in use as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 8 the top surface around the opening will deoline gradually to the bottom surface and so that this inclined wall together with the bottom of the shoe will form a smooth, comfortable pocket or dish for receiving the heel, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8. If it is desired to increase the depth of this pocket a U-shaped inser-t 22 of leather maybe used and inserted as indicated in Fig. 1, around the opening 21 and along the sides of the device, the inner leg a extending preferably farther forwardly than the -other leg b to assist in giving support -to the foot part in front of the heel. This insert is also well skived as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8 so that the heel 7L of the foot shown may find smooth seating.

In Figs. 6 and 8 I show how the device cooperates with the foot f to relieve and correct the strain. In Fig. 6 I have shown the outline of the various bones of the foot in order that the purpose and operation of my device may be better understood. The device is placed in the bottom of the shoe and is of the proper size so that the pad 18 when within its pocket 19 will be directly back of the ball 'of the foot or the callous or affected part. The pad will be engaged by the metatarsal bones 23 and will hold these bones and keep their front joint ends from pressing the skin, and thus the calloused area will be relieved and protected. After a period ,of wear the pad which is transversely arched Will tend to restore the transverse or anterior metatarsal arch and bring the lneta-tarsal bones and also the toe bones into their proper position. If any special part of the callous or sore area is desired to be relieved the pad can be shifted laterally or pulled outwardly to the desired location as has been already explained. By engaging under the metatarsal bones the pad will also materially assist the bones of the foot in preserving the longitudinal arches.

The heel of the foot fits comfortably into the depression or dish formed by the opening 21 and the inclined tapered edges of the surrounding material, and the projection c on the oscalcis or heel bone 24 will extend through the opening 21 to permit the surrounding area of the heel to engage with the tapered and top sides surrounding the opening, the seating of the heel being much like the seating afforded by the old fashioned shoemakers bench. Fig. 8 clearly shows how pressure is relieved from the end c of helheel bone and distributed over the entire lee If the insert 22 is used the depth of the seat will be increased depending upon the thickness of the insert, as illustrated in Fig. 8. This heel seat by receiving the heel will also serve to hold the device in proper position with its front padded end properly located and held below the metatarsal region, and when the insert 22 is used its inner leg a will act more or less as a support for the longitudinal arches of the foot, and as the limbs of the insert are skived inclined surfaces will be provided around the heel section tending to force the heel and rear part of the foot into proper central position within the shoe and will tend to prevent crooked walking and crooked heels as we`.l as relieving the foot. This insert 22 may be used entirely alone in the shoe and will relieve the heel of considerable concentration of weigh-t on the heel bone and will tend to centralize the foot in the shoe in proper position.

My improved device is reversible, that is,

the structure for the left foot is the same as between said walls at the front end thereof, and a friction passageway behind said pocket, an anchor strip engaging in said passageway, and a pad of yieldable material pivoted to said strip to be adjustable laterally in said pocket, said strip being'adjustable longitudinally in saidl passageway, whereby to effect longitudinal adjustment of said pad.

2. In a device ot the class described, the combination of similar flexible walls set together to fit in the bottom of a shoe, said walls being secured together by sewing lines, there being a pocket at the front end of said walls between said sewing lines and a passageway extending rearwardly from said pocket between said sewing lines, a pad in said pocket, and an anchoring strip aving frictionalengagement with said passageway and pivoted at its front end to the rear end of said pad whereby said pad may be adjusted laterally in said pocket, said strip being shiftable in said passageway to thereby adjust the pad longitudinally.

3. In a foot su port shaped to fit the bottom of a shoe rom the heel to a point just behind the metatarsal arch of the foot, said support comprising similar layers of exible material sewed together along lines to' provide aV-shaped pocket between the front ends of said layers and a friction passageway extending rearwardly from said pocket, a ear-shaped exible pad in said pocket, an a frictionA strip engaging in said passageway and hinged at its front end to the apex end of said pad, said strip being adjustable longitudinally and said pad being adapted to swing laterally where-l by the pad may be adjusted laterally and longitudinally in said pocket.

4. A foot support adapted to Iit the bottom of a shoe, said support comprising similar layers of flexible material secured togather, there being an opening through said layers at theheel section, the layers Vadjav cent said opening being skived whereby to cooperate with the bottomrof the shoe to form a concave seat for the heel, and an insert between said layers extending' around said opening and having its inner edges skived to cooperate with the beveled edges surrounding said opening, said insert serving to increase the depth of said concave seat. v

5. A foot support for insertion in shoes comprising a heel section having an opening, the material around said opening being skived to form inclined surfaces, said inclined surfaces', said opening and the bottom of the shoe forming a heel receiving seat or depression, and means for adjusting the depth of said depression.

6. A foot support of the class described, having a heel section and composed of layers of material, there being an opening through said heel section, said material around said opening being skived and cooperating with the bottom of the shoe in which the suport is placed to form a dishshaped seat or the heel, there being an insert receiving space between said layers,

and a detachable insert between said layers and around ,said opening having its edges skived to cooperate with the skived edges of the material, said insert serving to increase the depth of said heel seat.

7. In a support of the class described, the combination of two layers secured together inwardly of their edges and forming a pocket at the front end, a resilient pad adjustable in said pocket, there being an opening in the heel section of said support and the edges around said opening being beveled whereby to cooperate with the bottom of the shoe to form a depression or `seat for the heel, and a U-shaped insert adapted to be inserted between Saidlayers around said opening for increasing the depth of said seat, the inner leg of said insert being longer than the outer leg. l

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 29thday of January, A. D., 1924.

- FREDERICK W. KRECH. 

